These kinds of stories are growing repetitive, told over and over again across the land, from one coast to another, from big cities to small towns JUST LIKE YOURS. I’m sure any regular readers out there already have figured out what MY opinions would be on this, and I grow weary of talking about it, so I will just leave you with something to “chaw” on for a spell.

(02/29/2008)
Drug dogs from the WV State Police reportedly did a search at Calhoun Middle-High School yesterday, with students being “locked-down” in classrooms for the sweep.

It was the second time in the past three months a sweep has happened at the school.

The earlier sweep was performed by the Calhoun Sheriff’s Department.

Unofficially, no drugs have been found at the facility during either visit.

School officials have said the drug dogs come to the school unannounced to make the search, which appears to include school lockers and other public areas while students are held inside classrooms.

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And the purpose of this last drug search was? How many of you parents like the idea of having your kids basically under arrest in their classroom for no particular reason? And this is happening regularly? Even tho no drugs seem to be being found? I assume no probable cause then? This sounds mighty unconstitutional to me. Perhaps they are simply preparing your kids for the following…

Report: 1 in every 100 Americans behind bars Total is far more than any other country in the world

By DAVID CRARY Associated Press

NEW YORK — For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report tracking the surge in inmate population and urging states to rein in corrections costs with alternative sentencing programs.

The report, released today by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.

Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.

The steadily growing inmate population “is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime,” said the report.

Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States, said budget woes are prompting officials in many states to consider new, cost-saving corrections policies that might have been shunned in the recent past for fear of appearing soft on crime.

“We’re seeing more and more states being creative because of tight budgets,” she said in an interview. “They want to be tough on crime, they want to be a law-and-order state — but they also want to save money, and they want to be effective.”

The report cited Kansas and Texas as states which have acted decisively to slow the growth of their inmate population. Their actions include greater use of community supervision for low-risk offenders and employing sanctions other than reimprisonment for ex-offenders who commit technical violations of parole and probation rules.

“The new approach, born of bipartisan leadership, is allowing the two states to ensure they have enough prison beds for violent offenders while helping less dangerous lawbreakers become productive, taxpaying citizens,” the report said.

While many state governments have shown bipartisan interest in curbing prison growth, there also are persistent calls to proceed cautiously.

“We need to be smarter,” said David Muhlhausen, a criminal justice expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation. “We’re not incarcerating all the people who commit serious crimes — but we’re also probably incarcerating people who don’t need to be.”

According to the report, the inmate population increased last year in 36 states and the federal prison system.

The largest percentage increase — 12 percent — was in Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear highlighted the cost of corrections in his budget speech last month. He noted that the state’s crime rate had increased only about 3 percent in the past 30 years, while the state’s inmate population has increased by 600 percent.

The Pew report was compiled by the Center on the State’s Public Safety Performance Project, which is working directly with 13 states on developing programs to divert offenders from prison without jeopardizing public safety.

“For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn’t been a clear and convincing return for public safety,” said the project’s director, Adam Gelb. “More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers.”

The report said prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime or in the nation’s overall population. Instead, it said, more people are behind bars mainly because of tough sentencing measures, such as “three-strikes” laws, that result in longer prison stays.

“For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling,” the report said. “While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine.”

The nationwide figures, as of Jan. 1, include 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails — a total 2,319,258 out of almost 230 million American adults.

The report said the United States is the world’s incarceration leader, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which make up the rest of the Top 10.

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OK, so those odds are getting even worse. Last year about this time it was 1 in 135….

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“We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln

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Now, while your mind is well greased, sit back, get yourself some snacks (sugar and genetically modified garbage-free), put up your feet, and prepare for 5 HOURS worth of the history lesson you never got in school.This is probably the BEST and most informative documentary I have ever seen that covers basically EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know (and some stuff you didn’t) about how things have gotten this way.

Every now and again I find something that really says it all, and that I think would be something good to share with anyone who stumbles across this blog. A gift to the ether-travellers/truth seekers… New Article by Brent Johnson: Soldiers of Evil

Thomas Paine, one of America’s most influential Founding Fathers, wrote in his brilliant essay, Common Sense, that government at its very best, when it is doing everything right and nothing wrong, is a necessary evil. In other words, Thomas Paine and those (like myself) who share his views on government believe that all governments are inherently evil.

This means that those who work for government are supporting, by their efforts, something evil, and are therefore perpetrating evil. In other words, all bureaucrats, that is, all elected and appointed officials, whether federal, state, city, county or otherwise, are supporting a government that is fundamentally evil. This includes the police.

Did you know that police officers are actually government corporation security guards? It’s true. As a matter of fact, many police uniforms contain the words, “Corporate Police” on the hat or jacket. Police officers work for evil governments. They support evil. They are evil.

I know that many of you will react unfavorably to my characterization of police as evil. That is because your belief systems have become so entrenched that you likely find it difficult to look at the issue honestly and with clarity. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard someone say, “Most police are good. There are a few bad apples.” I used to agree. However, I no longer believe it to be true.

Police officers, like anyone and everyone who works for any branch or level of government, are bureaucrats. As a bureaucrat, each police officer is the exact product of his or her training – nothing more and nothing less.

The news media are filled with a growing number of incidents of and complaints about police brutality, official misconduct, and outright criminal acts perpetrated by the same people who are supposed to protect and defend the general public from precisely these kinds of crimes………………

It’s time for some straight forward honesty and for looking at the bigger picture. I don’t believe too many folks here actually really think that Ron Paul can win the presidential election unless the evil players finally anger enough citizens to make a big difference. Which is ALWAYS possible at some point, of course. But that does not mean anything except that the majority of citizens either don’t know about him, spend too much time listening to what MSM tells them, or do not understand what is at stake here. The truth of the matter is that Ron Paul has ALREADY won. Because of his message and leadership qualities, and the fact that there are many of us who have been disenfranchised for nearly all our lives, living within a system that we cannot support, who have simply been waiting for the appropriate leader to help direct us out of this mess. Ron Paul is that catalyst for change that we have waited for since the 60’s. And before this is over, he may not “win” the “official” presidency, but he may very well be OUR president anyhow. Perhaps he already is…

I would bet all the money I have that Obama will “win” the election and I will be the first to say so. He will win for a number of reasons, mainly so that we can appear like such a WONDERFULLY non-racist country as to “elect” a non-white. Also because as a non-white, he will most certainly do everything he can to make all the “right” people like him. Hillary is too much of a wild card. Certainly McCain is not so dumb that he does not understand that the majority HATE George Bush and want the war to END, and so aligning himself with Bush is his ticket to lose. I would say in my humble opinion that is being done ON PURPOSE to eliminate him from the “viable” candidates list.

And so, we sit here on the eve of our destruction as a free nation and morn the fact that nobody pays attention to the only honest and REAL individual of the bunch. Well, WE are paying attention, and we know what’s going on, and we cannot support a tyrannical government. No matter WHO wins, we cannot let ourselves be bullied or railroaded by phony people we did not vote for and do not believe in.

Now, understand, I am not laying all the power on Ron Paul’s shoulders. WE as thinking citizens, are the ones with the REAL power, Ron is just a unifying force in a society which seems to be mainly followers with few leaders. We have begun a revolution for real, based on oppression and the spark that Ron Paul has kindled. Too many people seem to be confused about this revolution. Many folks think the only way to have a revolution is to be violent, and that too has begun. There are also many who think most people are to apathetic to HAVE a revolution, but those who believe that ARE the apathetic ones. The revolution has already begun, right under their noses, and they don’t even see it.

Most folks expect and actually demand that a revolution, in order to be effective, must encompass huge groups of people all doing the same thing at the same time. While this would be nice, it is very nearly impossible to organize something of that nature. Everyone has their own ideas. Ron Paul has stated that the revolution is up to US, and that is the truth.

So, to sum this up I would say, to those of you with leadership abilities, aid in leading this revolution. To those with organizational qualities, start organizing. To those with the energy required to do great things, begin acting. To those with intelligence and wisdom, begin educating. To those with honor, set a good example. And to those with courage, begin living the life you WANT.

All these are small pieces to a huge and as yet unfinished puzzle. We don’t have to take the world by storm. We don’t need to have millions all in one place at any one time. QUALITY is just as effective as QUANTITY. An act here, a rally there, gatherings, get togethers, personal passive acts of resistance every single day. These are the things that when put together as a whole will show those insane criminals who fancy themselves to be “in power” what we are really made of. There WILL be violence, and we cannot do anything about that. But rather than argue amongst ourselves, we simple should do what we feel is RIGHT.

Personally I don’t NEED a leader. I tend more towards BEING one. But if I WANTED one, I would simply declare that RON PAUL IS MY PRESIDENT. Regardless of the outcome of our fraudulent elections.

I am posting a link to a statement made recently by RUSSELL MEANS, a very intelligent, dedicated, and brave man. His message gives one some very timely food for thought. This message is important to all of us if we choose to listen. Because if you study history, and you look at how things are in the present times, it seems to boil down to one thing. We’re all Indians now.

The Lakotah are working on taking back their lives, their land, and their heritage. The treaties with the “white man’s” government were broken many times over and in the REAL world, if you break a contract, it’s null and void. So the Lakotah Indians are once more determined to become their own nation. I wish them all the luck in the world. And I hope many more follow.Russell Means